An Installation of Uncertainty
by AedanRyche
Summary: A full assault is launched by ODST members on the Covenant home world. After a slipspace rupture throws them off course, Rockstar and his squadmates must find out what is going on in this strange sector of space. M for gore/lang CANCELED. RESTART ENSURED
1. Chapter 1

**Before i do anything let me state that i own nothing but Rockstar and his squad. all others are property of Hasbro, 343, Bungie, and Microsoft.**

Now to the meat. This story is set between HaloCE and Halo2.

_"Feet first into hell," that's the O.D.S.T. motto. I never imagined hell was so close to home._

Corporal Jared Masters was asleep in the cafeteria of the ONI Corvette, _The Gates of Asgarde._ The small spy ship had been cloaked for the past forty-eight hours, trying to follow a covenant cruiser back to its homeworld. So far they had only been successful in slip-space travel while cloaked. It was not an easy feat. Several other men of varying size walked in, talking amongst themselves.

Their chatter woke Jared, who simply kept his eyes closed and listened. He wasn't much for talking, and when he did it wasn't what the other Helljumpers usually talked about. While they talked about their kill count or a new weapon they had gotten, Jared talked about peace and home. They would talk about the time they took out their first Elite or Brute, and he would be left out. Jared never wanted to kill anyone, he only joined the corps for the college money. But now he had killed fourteen rebels, fifty two grunts, and three jackals.

Jared had never run into an Elite or Brute. As far as he cared, he didn't want to. He had seen what they can do, and it was way above his pay-grade. He once witnessed a marine get ripped in half by a Brute while spotting for his Sergeant on a sniper run. It wasn't pretty. Suddenly, the Corvette shook. The lights went out and the stars began to spin outside the window. "Aww, Christ…" one of the others said. "Dead in the water." The intercom dinged as the red emergency lights came on. _"All Orbital Drop Shock Troopers report to the pod bays. This is not a drill, covenant broadcast reports homeworld location."_ The soldiers in the cafeteria glanced at each other before running to the pod bays.

As the pod cycled through the drop bay, Jared's monitors blipped on. There was Heavy in the top left, Skipper in the center left, Phantom in the bottom right, and Challenger in the center right. "alight boys," Skipper said over the radio. "Time to kick some ass. Ready?" the team cycled through the routine. Each one giving their call-sign and Status. The Captain called out. "Rockstar, where are you at?" Jared keyed his mic with a thought. "Rockstar ready, Skipper. On your go." Being six feet tall and two hundred pounds, his voice was surprisingly deep and quiet. "Roger, release clamps on my go, three, two, one, mark!"

The pod released from the docking clamps with a quick lurch as it was pulled toward the planet below. there were yells of excitement, whispered prayers and a few screams of terror as the pods gained speed. Suddenly , a covenant ship opened a rupture. "Oh shit, Hold on boys!" Skipper called just before the shockwave hit them. The pod was rocked back and forth hard, jostling Jared around. He hit his head on something and blacked out.

**So how about it, peeps? Good for an intro? If I can get one positive review, I will continue this story, so please feel free to blow my mind.**

**_Blass Reiter_**


	2. Chapter 2

**I Own Nothing but original Characters, Battlestar Galactica 2003 property of Creators. Halo Property of Bungie, 343 industries, and Microsoft.**

"Looks like we lost them," Colonel Tigh said across the map table. "About fracking time." The CIC was brimming with activity as everyone began to move about for a post FTL check. "I wouldn't say that just yet," Commander Adama answered, looking over a still from the surrounding space. They were forty Astronomical Units from the activity, meaning they couldn't see the Galactica, Pegasus, or the rest of the fleet. But what he could see from the still capture was unnerving. It appeared to be a fleet of unknown origin, fifty plus ships. "we may have lost the Cylons," Adama pointed out in his gruff voice. "But we still have company."

"Kara!" Apollo called from down the corridor. "I don't have tome Lee!" she yelled back. "The old man told me to get in the new blackbird and get a few up close stills of the unknown craft." Lee Adama, Apollo, caught up the blond female pilot. He grabbed her arm to stop her. "Gods dammit Lee…" she began to protest, but stopped when he pressed something into her palm. "For luck, now get going.

The stealth craft drifted closer to the ships as Starbuck killed the thrusters. "What the hell are you?" she asked no one. As she came alongside the first ship, the largest one of them all, she began taking stills of its port side. "It's obvious you're a warship," she mused to her self, getting close-ups of the launch pods and what looked to be a cannon. "and you have massive damage." She took more photos of the monstrous hole that seemed to span from bow to stern. Inside, several bodies floated dead.

"Actual, this is Starbuck." They hear Kara Thrace's garbled voice over the CIC radio. "All the ships are dead. Whoever did this, I don't think we want to tangle with." Adama lifted the receiver to his lips. "Starbuck, Galactica Actual. Roger. What kind of damage is evident?" he waited her reply. "For starters," she began. "There is a massive, and I mean you could navigate through this comfortably, Massive hole in the front of the flagship. It goes all the way to the stern. And bodies are floating around in it. Orders?" Adama thought for a moment. It wasn't the Cylons, he was sure of that. "RTB, Galactica out." Adama was about to put down the receiver when Starbuck came back on. "And sir, there's a ring floating out here."

"What do you think did this?" Helo asked as the Raptor traveled into the bowels of the dead craft. Racetrack shook her head. "I don't want to find out, really. I got a floater coming up on the port side, give me some light." Helo directed the light to a blue, iridescent object. "Oh my gods," Racetrack muttered. "The hell is that?" they looked into the face of a split jawed monster.

"It's definitely not Cylon." Doc Cottle said as he took off the exam gloves. "It has two hearts, a three chambered stomach, three kidneys, and a half human sized liver. That's all I can tell you." Commander Adama looked at the opened creature the Raptor team had brought back. "Is this a shell?" Adama asked as he tapped the Iridescent plate on its leg. "No, it's a type of armor. Removable." He pointed to a small pile of similar plates on the table next to the dead monster. Cottle light a cigarette as he walked over to another pile of objects. "He had these on his person when they picked him up. doesn't take a genius to know these are weapons.

_Battle Stations, Battle Stations. We have five unknown craft on trajectory to the unidentified object_. As the speakers sounded with the general quarters alarm, the hangar bay became a beehive. Pilots ran about, getting to their Vipers as Engineers pushed them into the launch tubes. "All Vipers, launch" came the order. Starbuck felt the accelerators in the tube launch her into the vacuum. The activated her Viper's engines, rocketing to top speed and banking towards the ring. "Apollo, on me. Let's check this ring out.

**Well, I got one! So I decided to post the next chapter. Note that I'm going off of a lost ring theory of the original twelve with this story.**


	3. Chapter 3

**I own nothing but OC's. all rights belong to their owners respectively. Bungie. 343. Microsoft. Sci-fi Channel.**

A dull throbbing woke Jared from his unconscious state. He noticed his monitors that worked showed empty seats. 'how long was I out?' he questioned his aching mind. As if on cue, the VISR in his helmet blinked on, showing the hours since the mission began. 'six hours, great.' He looked around the pod, gaining his bearings. He saw that there was a lone Brute in front of his pod. It seemed to not notice as the lights on the explosive bolts activated.

Reaching around his shoulder, he opened the compartments holding his M7s silenced submachine gun, his M6SOCOM pistol, and his grenades. 'I can come back for the rations.' He decided as he set the weapons in their places. He reached out, kicking the lower bolts and punching the upper bolts. As the door hissed, the Brute turned around. the door rocketed off the pod with a loud bang, catching the brute and spreading a spray of blood. 'one,' he thought as he climbed out to secure the area.

"It has atmosphere," Apollo noted as flames began to encircle his Viper Mk7. "Yeah, no shit!" Kara called back as she was violently shaken from the surprise. They had orders, trail the craft and determine intent. After they cleared into the lower atmosphere, Kara began to get readings on her dash. "Oxy Nitrogen Mix. CO2 output suggests Plant life is thriving along with wildlife." She hit turbulence, adjusting her craft to compensate. "Inclement weather even though it's obviously artificial itself." Apollo looked to his right as Kara hit another turbulent spot. "You thinking what I'm thinking?" he asked over the radio. "Habitable." He shot a boyish grin over to the other viper. "Oh you tempt me." She replied, laughing. "No, not yet at least. Let's find those craft."

'Three,' Jared counted as he returned to his pod for the month's worth of MRE packages in the compartments. His VISR suddenly flashed two yellow targets at high 2:00. They were approaching rapidly. After scaling a tree, he caught a glimpse of something gunmetal gray and another red and white. They were definitely not Covenant.

"I've got movement on the ground," Starbuck called. "One foot mobile, bipedal." She pulled up on the stick, setting the Viper Mk2 into a hover. She flipped the weapons switch incase she needed them. Turning toward the copse of trees, she saw an armored figure stepped out. It had a full black suit with deep green trim, and a Silver Blue reflective faceplate. The biped removed its helmet. It was human.

"Galactica Actual, this is Apollo. Starbuck reports Human Contact on the ring, acknowledge?" Apollo continued to fly in a circular pattern why he awaited orders. "Apollo, this is Actual." It was Tigh. "Are you sure? Could it be a Cylon trick?" Apollo shook his head even though Tigh couldn't see him. "Negative, but anything's possible. Orders?" he waited again, turning a tight left to continue on his elliptical path. "Lee," it was his dad this time. "I want you to try and make radio contact, Copy." Lee tensed his lips as he pulled a hard right to make it back to the site. "Affirmative, out."

Jared watched as the striped craft hovered in midair, its guns trained on him. he wasn't stupid, so he played along. What ever they were, they weren't Covenant craft. This looked like an old Earth design. He waved a hand to the pilot of the craft, trying to be friendly. She looked up and to the left as the shine of another craft approached from above, hovering also. His helmet chirped a garbled sound. He held up the armor piece, tapping the side quizzically. The second pilot nodded, consenting him to place the helmet on.

"Name and Colony." The voice asked Jared as the helmet clicked into place. They speak English? "Masters, Jared. Corporal in the sixth ODST battalion." The pilots glanced at each other before lowering further and getting closer for an obvious view. "And what Colony are you from?" the pilot in the grey craft asked. "You sound Caprican." Jared raised a hidden eyebrow, reaching back and clamping his weapon to his armor. It was going to be a while "What in the hell is Caprican?" he asked, looking up to the pilots. "you aren't colonial?" the pilot in the striped craft asked. It was a rather cocky female voice. "could you land and power down? You will draw the Covenant to you with the sound of your engines."

"The _What_?" The Commander asked. Apollo had landed and was giving a report to his father. "Covenant, sir. That's what he said." Tigh looked across the table at Adama, who looked back. "What did he say about his colony? How does he know what this… 'Covenant' is? Who the hell is he? I need answers Lee!"

"Hey! The Commander wants to talk to you," lee called over to Jared. As the soldier walked over, he noticed a strange patch of black and white on his right chest piece. "Channel 156.89.095," lee told him as he slipped his helmet back on.

"Commander, sir. Corporal Jared Masters, sixth Orbital Drop Shock Trooper Battalion." A man with a rather gruff voice answered his call. "Where are you from Trooper?" he asked Jared. Jared stood with his weight on one leg, his hand pressed against the left side of his helmet. "I'm from Reach sir, It's a Colony established for Titanium ore by Earth."

"Earth?" Tigh questioned. Had he heard right? Was this a soldier from earth? "that impossible." Adama agreed with his XO. Earth was something he made up to keep the fleet together. But here is a soldier claiming to be from there. "Did you just say earth?"

**Well, well. A soldier from earth? It would seem the lie was only half true. How will Adama handle the situation? That's an answer for another chapter.**


	4. Chapter 4

**I own nothing but my OC's. all rights reserved to 343, Bungie, Microsoft, and Sci-fi Channel.**

The monitor was humming to himself, a tune he had picked up from _The Pillar Of Autumn_ before the Reclaimer and his Construct destroyed his installation. He had never known anger until that day. Being an AI, he wasn't supposed to have conventional emotions. He continued his tune as he worked his way to the core.

"That's right Sir, Earth." He had explained this several times to the man. Why didn't a human being know about Earth? "I was Deployed to lead an assault on an alien Covenant, to end a three year old war quickly." He waited as the Commander thought up his next question. "Were is this Reach colony you talked about?" Jared listed off the spatial coordinates he remembered to this day. "It was attacked by the Covenant."

Adama laid the Star map out on the table before him. A picture of a solar system, and then a desolate and seemingly dead planet. "This Planet is a burnt ruin, why would anyone colonize there?" he spoke into the receiver. The garbled transition replied, "It wasn't always like that. The Covenant glassed the planet, carved symbols into the surface with plasma, and left to find more of my kind to kill. These beings want to destroy every single human in the galaxy."

"We have a seven foot tall, gray creature with a articulate lower jaw in our morgue. Is that one of the species?" Jared rubbed the faceplate of his helmet in frustration. The sun had set and it was becoming quite dark behind a gas giant. "Yes sir. Those are the Highest ranking soldiers in their military, Elites. Earth intelligence says they call themselves Sangheilli. Your lucky it's dead. It could probably wipe out your whole crew if it wasn't."

At the core, Guilty Spark was depositing all the data he had collected on Installation 04. He had found this to be the lost Installation 13 and its old monitor had been destroyed by Covenant forces. '_It seems that there are still covenant on this installation._' He activated the Sentinel robots to eradicate all life not of the Reclaimer path.

Jared heard plasma fire, along with a few explosions near by. "Sir, I'm going to have to cut this conversation short. I've got work to do." The commander responded. "Hold fast, I will send in backup for you. If what you say is true, you are going to need all the help you can get." Jared thought this over for a moment. "Negative, sir. They don't have the experience they need. Out" as Jared cut the line he saw several Covenant squads en route to his position. "Get in the air! Get out of here!" he yelled to the pilots.

Spark continued to monitor the status of covenant activity on the ring's surface, noticing that they seemed adept at fighting off the Sentinels.

Jared took cover behind a rock as the pilots took off. The covenant fired on the craft, which quickly gained altitude and speed. Once they were away, Jared pulled out two grenades, chucking them into the group of enemies. A grunt picked up the round object, which proceeded to detonate and eliminate half of the enemies each. 'dumb bastards,' he thought until he saw the Brutes still standing. One of them pointed to Jared, drawing the other two's attention.. 'oh shit.'

Skipper watched through his night assisted scope as Jared took out fifteen grunts and three jackals. "nice job, kid." He said under his breath. He took aim on the brutes that were left. One pointed to Jared's location. Skipper fired twice, landing solid headshots on two of the monsters. One of the charged at the solitary ODST.

Jared was up and firing at the charging Brute, his caseless rounds bouncing of every armored area. 'God dammit, Skipper,' he thought. 'Why couldn't you be quicker on the trigger.' The Brute jumped after Jared, narrowly missing its target. "Stand still human!" it yelled at him in frustration. The brute stood and ran at Jared again, only to be dissolved into a red cloud by an explosion. "Thanks, Heavy." He said over the radio. "Not a problem," came the reply. "Skipper wants us to regroup at the structure to the north. Challenger and Phantom are still scattered on this ring." He cut the line only to be replaced with the Captain. "Rockstar, who were those contacts you were talking to?" Jared turned toward the ridge his CO was standing on. "Humans they said. They offered help." Rockstar cut the line, jogging away to the Structure on his VISR.

Guilty Spark watched as the Reclaimers defeated the Covenant with apparent ease. Were they here to fire the ring?

**reviews please. as always. :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**I own nothing. NOTHING! Besides my oc's. rights belong to Sci-Fi Channel, Bungie, Microsoft, And 343.**

"What the hell?" Deck Chief Tyrol screamed at Starbuck as she stepped out of the viper's cockpit. "I just fixed the Fracking thing!" he said exasperated. Starbuck slid down the ladder, smiling and laughing. "Oh cool it, Chief. Its not too bad." A blast of sparks flew from the hole left from a plasma bolt. "Ok, maybe a little worse than I thought…" she regained a serious demeanor before laughing again. Tyrol threw up his hands and walked away. "Cally, get the tools!"

"He _what_?" Tigh asked as he listened to Starbuck and Apollo's report. "He gets deployed from an airlock?" he asked, shaking his head. Adama looked at Apollo. "Did you see the container he arrived in?" Apollo nodded. "How large was it?" Lee ran the visual specs by his father, detailing the height and width, along with the lack of conventional engines. "Not big enough for an FTL sir, meaning…" the Commander cut him off. "His ship had to be close by. Did he mention how he arrived?"

"No sir, he said that when they were deployed, their enemy went into FTL" Lee recited. "Something called Slip-Space. He must have been dragged along and ended up here." Adama rubbed his forehead. 'First Cylons, now split jawed creatures…' it seemed that the whole galaxy was against them. "How did he seem? Can we trust him?" Adama wanted to believe that this man was human and a member of the 13th tribe. Someone they could count on. "He never once threatened us, and he waved us away when trouble arrived. I believe he is an honest friend, sir. Or at least dedicated to protecting humans." Adama turned his gaze on Kara. "Do you agree with Lee, Starbuck?" he asked her.

Rockstar reached the structure with relative ease. Evading enemy patrols had turned out to be easier than he first thought. Though he could have sworn he heard humming a few times. 'Just your mind playing tricks, Rockstar. Stay frosty.' He sat down with Heavy and Skipper against a wall of what he assumed was piping. "Any sign of Challenger or Phantom?" the Captain asked as he opened an MRE, taking a bite out of the pastry inside. "Negative, sir. Not even an empty MA5B mag." Heavy replied, pulling off his helmet and field stripping his rifle. As Heavy cleaned the weapon, Rockstar got up and walked up the building to the left.

"Where are you going to?" Heavy asked as he ran a sponge over the weapon parts. Jared looked back, his faceplate reflecting the moon above. "Finding Challenger and Phantom, you two rest. Your equipment makes too much noise." And with that he was gone. "Why isn't he a colonel yet?" Heavy asked Skipper. Skipper tossed the empty wrapper away. "Because he's not a lifer like us."

Rockstar jogged along the lightly worn game trail. He knew he would outlast most of the squad in endurance, considering he never packed over sized equipment for missions like Heavy, and he worked better in close quarters unlike Skipper. He was confident in his M7 suppressed machinegun and M6 Magnum. Those failing him, he always had a knife and a few grenades. Rockstar jumped over a twenty foot ledge, without his armor he would have broken both legs. He landed in a scree slope, sliding down as he was trained to do. At the bottom he ducked to the side, avoiding the trailing projectiles. His VISR practically lit up the dark, outlining everything in yellow and enhancing ambient light.

Following another trail further to the objective on his HUD he passed by a deer like animal. It looked at him, chewing on something. Then the animal bolted. "what, am I that ugly?" he asked the night, jokingly. There was an alert behind him. he turned to see an elite blindly walking up the trail he was on. He raised his M7S, aiming at the eye ports in its helmet. The seven foot tall minor stopped, he saw the red dot sight on the gun. "shit," Rockstar mumbled as the elite swung the plasma rifle towards him, knocking him down.

Rockstar shook his head, trying to focus his vision. The enemy stepped on his chest plate, bearing down in attempt to crush him. he grasped the Elite's foot, trying to pull it off of him. noticing his efforts were going no where, the elite aimed the rifle at Rockstar's faceplate. "Now, you die, demon."

Rockstar brought his legs up, planting them on the crotch plate of the Elite's armor and pushing hard. The alien laughed until a black and violet blur ran into it, knocking it over and quickly dispatching it with a knife. "And that's makes four of you." The ODST muttered as he cleaned his blade on the grass. "You ok?" Phantom asked as Rockstar got up from the ground. "Yeah, you been here long?" Phantom shook his head. "Just got here. Where ever here is." They hid the body in the bushes, trying to keep their presence as secret as possible from the covenant.

"You seen Challenger anywhere?" Rockstar asked. Phantom shook his head. "Her pod went into the water a few miles that way. She wouldn't have made it if she tried. The pod was venting atmosphere and the door was cracked." Jared knew what that meant. Her blood had boiled in space. "Come on," Rockstar said. "Let's get back to the Captain."


	6. Chapter 6

**I own nothing but OC's. all rights reserved. Sci-Fi channel, 343, Bungie, Microsoft.**

Rockstar led Phantom back the way he had come, scaling the ledge where the scree was lowest. Upon reaching camp they found Heavy was on watch. "Glad you could join us Phantom," he said through the radio, his helmet mic muted. "Where's Challenger?" They kept walking, silently answering his question. Heavy lowered his MA5B rifle as he was hit full force by the reality of her status.

"Rockstar," The Captain exclaimed as Jared and Phantom rounded the corner into his line of sight. "Where's Diana?" Rockstar fell into a sit, leaning against the piping behind him. "She touched down in some water," Phantom explained. The Captain looked at each of them in turn. "You left her in the water?" He asked, appalled by their lack of honor. "We never leave a soldier behind!" he yelled but was stopped as Rockstar Raised his hands. Jared grasped his helmet with both hands, sliding his thumbs into two depressions. The air hissed as the vacuum seal broke. "Her door was cracked." He said in his quiet, resonating voice, running a gloved hand through his cropped brown hair. "She didn't make it, Dusty." He finished as he set the helmet down beside him.

"That doesn't mean she didn't make it out in time to get to the surface!" The Captain grasped at any possibility he could think of. "We have to go find her before the covenant do!" he started to run to the trail but Rockstar grasped his leg in a firm grip. "If she didn't boil alive in the rupture, she suffocated in the vacuum. And save that she would have cooked in the damn pod on entry. And then, by some divine intervention of protection from the heat, Diana would have died on impact. She's dead Skipper. I'm sorry." The Captain dropped to his knees, "God dammit!" he screamed. Even though his mic was off and the radio line cut, the condemnation could be heard all the way to Heavy's position.

Morning came, bringing ill moods and sour tongues. They all sat around the fire Heavy had made in the early hours, drinking weak coffee and teas. "So what's the objective, Skip?" Heavy asked, laying another branch into the flames. "What do we do now?" Just as Heavy finished talking, a Viper zoomed over head, followed by a raptor. The troopers dove for weapons and cover, slamming on their helmets. "Rockstar! What the hell are you doing?" the Captain demanded. Rockstar was jogging up the ramp to the structure, a two burning flares in his hands.

"He's going to get us killed," Phantom said from his hidden position. Rockstar stood on an outcrop, waving the flares at the vipers as the made a second pass. "Corporal Masters, This is Starbuck. Is the zone cleared for landing?" the lead viper asked. Jared tossed the flares down in the empty are behind the building. "Yeah," he replied. "Good to see familiar faces." Heavy and Skipper shared confused glances at the English transmission.

After all the introductions had been made, the became serious. "We need your help," Skipper said. "We have to get back to the fight, but we have no way of returning without light travel." Starbuck looked over at the other female pilot, Kat. "How do you think the old man will take to this?" she asked Kara. She shrugged. "Not sure, but there is one thing." The captain spared her a look. "Yeah? What is it?"

"The Commander wants to see you all, and to do a blood test to make sure you really are human." She explained. Rockstar listened from the ledge, watching for any covenant patrols. "We have had a problem with Cylons disguised as humans recently. It's just a precaution." Kat explained. Rockstar lifted his M6, activating the scope interface on his VISR. Four grunts and a brute had entered the field below. no trouble. "Cylon? What the hell is that?" Phantom asked. Now there was an elite and two more grunts. Still no threat. They hadn't spotted them. "They are a bunch of robots the colony scientists built. They tried to kill us all when they gained sentience." The two pilots further explained their current war.

"Cap, I need your rifle." Rockstar called over the radio. "I have Covenant and an unknown." Skipper lifted the Sniper Rifle and tossed it over to Jared. "So why does your Commander want to meet us?" Heavy asked. Rockstar had a bead on the approaching unknown. It was a gray ball with a blue center. He kept hearing the humming again. It sounded so familiar. "Well its sort of a you help us, we help you situation." Jared charged the high powered rifle. "Contact, we got some sort of ball headed our way."

The squad of ODSTs turned on their heels, training their weapons on silver and blue ball. Starbuck and Kat drew their side arms, loading an explosive into the under barrel attachment. They each followed the orb as it reached the ledge. "I advise hold fire," Rockstar announced. "Thirty plus Covenant foot mobiles within earshot of all your weapons." None responded, but stood their ground.

"_Oh I don't think that will be an issue._" The orb spoke. "_I am sending Sentinels to take care of them as we speak. Pardon my intrusion. I am 343 Guilty Spark, former monitor of Installation 04. Welcome to my new home, Reclaimers._" If it was possible, the orb, Guilty Spark, seemed to bow. The soldiers kept their weapons trained on it though. "Confirmed, I have energy fire on all covenant. It's friendly, for now." Rockstar relayed over the radio. The rest of the squad lowered their weapons slowly. "What is this place? No wait, what are you, that's a better question." Skipper interrogated. Spark turned its blue eye upon the Captain.

_"I am a Forerunner AI, designed to study and protect the Fortress Worlds, like the one you stand on at this moment. This is Installation 13, the lost ring."_ The captain shook his head. 'Well that answers those questions.' He thought. 'It isn't a Dumb AI then.' Using the UNSC Jargon. "How did you know where we were?" he asked again. The orb pulsed once. _"It is my duty to know everything that happens on the surface of this ring. I took notice of you when your craft crash landed."_

"What kind of place is this… 'Fortress world'?" Heavy asked. The orb turned to him this time. _"This is a single installation of an Array built by the Forerunner to combat the Flood. It was designed to neutralize all sentient life within three Radii of the galactic center. I have taken all possible conventional precautions, and even some I deducted myself, to keep the samples aboard this installation from becoming loose."_

"Wait, wait, wait," Starbuck said. "The Flood? What is that?" Spark turned to her. _"The flood is an extra-galactic parasite that feeds on intelligent life," _Spark explained further._ "If it were to gain freedom and leave this ring, it could not be stopped until every source of prey has been devoured."_ Spark zoomed up to her, causing her to stumble back a step and raise her weapon. "Back off, light bulb!" Spark circled her. _"Do you bear relation to Sorrowful Destiny?"_ he stopped in front of her. "Who the frack is that?" she demanded. The monitor circled around to come over Rockstar. _"Protector, you deem fit to join us once more. How have your travels fared?"_ Rockstar glanced up at the monitor, his face hidden. "I have been thrown through Slip-Space, dropped on a ring, and lost a comrade to faulty mechanics. I believed you could figure that out."

Jared resumed his watch, noting the sentinels had been defeated. '_Protector?_' He thought to himself. "Firing." He announced, followed by the thump of his fourteen millimeter rounds firing. "Hit," thump! "Hit" thump! "Hit" thump! "Hit. mag." Skipper threw a magazine into Rockstar's out stretched had. Thump! "Do you know of where Challenger's pod touched down?" Skipper asked. The monitor turned to him._ "Three miles off shore. The container was ruptured and life signs were negative."_ Thump! _"I do apologize for your loss, Reclaimer." _Thump! "Forget it," he muttered, "Rockstar, give me a turn." Jared moved back, allowing his CO access to the rifle.

"Alright," Skipper grunted after the rifle pressed into his shoulder. "Rockstar, Phantom, go with them, report back how they are." The thump of the rifle punctuated the sentence. "Heavy, stay here with me, I need someone to cover my six." Heavy moved to the incline leading into the complex. "Well girls, what are you waiting for?" Skipper said as he stood, leaning the rifle on his shoulder. "Get going before more of them come." As Phantom and Rockstar followed Kat into the raptor, Spark spoke up. _"Protector, do you remember the promise you made before you left the galaxy?"_ Rockstar turned his head and looked at the Orb over his shoulder. _"You said, 'There is too much confusion. I will return when I have found a solution.'"_ Rockstar heard the humming again. That damned tune. What was it? _ "Have you found it?"_ Jared returned his view to the front. "No."


	7. Chapter 7

**I own my OC's. All rights reserved to Bungie, 343 industries, Microsoft, and Sci-Fi channel respectively.**

"Well that was interesting," Kat said as they exited the rings atmosphere. "What the hell was all that protector shit, anyway?" she called back into the bay. Rockstar shook his head. "No clue." The raptor was silent. Only the whir of the mechanics in the cab could be heard. Jared walked up to the cockpit, sitting down in the copilot seat. "What's up?" Kat asked with out looking. Jared didn't reply.

The Raptor followed the Viper trough the debris left from the engagement. Jared waved Phantom up to the cockpit. "Woah," he said as they passed a Capitol ship with a hole torn through from head to aft. "Oorah," Rockstar said as he followed the wreck they were passing. "Must have been in a rupture when one of ours hit it with a super MAC." Kat glanced at the wreck and then at the soldiers. "One of yours did this?" she asked Rockstar. He nodded, viewing the rest of the debris for enemy fighters. "Yeah, they're most vulnerable when the open a Slip-space rupture. A Cruiser must have caught it when it had its pants down."

"_Good to hear you can drop something as large as a Basestar_," Starbucks radio chimed in._ "We've been looking for a way to take out those bullet heads fast since this war started."_ Phantom looked at Kat. "Basestar?" he asked. She nodded. "It's about the same size at the ship you pointed out, only concentrated into a star shape with half the length and triple the height. Massive firepower on board though."

Once they exited the debris field, Rockstar's jaw nearly dropped through his helmet. In front of them was a fleet of ships, notably the two biggest. His gaze fell on the Pegasus. "That is the Galactica?" he asked, pointing out the larger Battlestar. "No, that's the Pegasus." Kat clarified. "It's a Mercury class Battlestar. The other one is Galactica." If Jared had thought the Pegasus, which was larger than anything they had in the UNSC fleet, was impressive then the Galactica was still a close second. It was as large as a medium sized cruiser, minus the MAC gun beneath it. "That's the smallest warship you have?" he asked incredulously. "It's fucking huge!"

Kat landed in the docking pod, the elevator taking her into the hangar. "You boys behave now, The Admiral is coming to see you personally." She knew it wasn't anything special, but they didn't. She wanted to have a little fun. The ODSTs stood at the door with their helmets in the crook of their arms when they finished moving into the bay. As the door came up, they pulled crisp salutes. The sounds of guns cocking caught their attention at the halfway point. Phantom reached for his pistol while Rockstar grasped his M7S, holding them at the ready when a firing squad of marines, trained on them, was revealed by the door.

"Put them down!" Someone in the crowd or barrels yelled. Rockstar smirked and changed his aim to the person with the largest insignia. "I can guarantee you," he began, holding the weapon in one hand as he donned his helmet. "That your admiral will be dead before you got one round off! Lower your weapons!" The soldiers moved to crowd Adama at his words. "Then all of you will. This armor isn't for just looks."

"Hey!" Starbuck yelled as she climbed out of the Viper she had been in. "Put down the guns, everyone!" Phantom obliged her request, as did Rockstar. Neither moved to holster though. The marines continued to aim at the ODST members. "That's an order!" Kara barked. They copied the Helljumpers though, none slinging their rifles.

"That's better." She said, walking around the crowd to Adama. "Sorry, sir." Adama looked at her. "No apologies needed." He walked forward to the Raptor, Surveying the two strangers inside. "What are your name, soldier?" he asked. Phantom saluted with his left hand. "Corporal Kevin Daniels. Call sign Phantom. 6th Orbital Drop Shock Trooper's battalion of the United Nations Space Command. Silent kill and stealth specialist." Adama looked over the helmeted figure that had threatened him and his crew a moment ago. "Yours?" he asked flatly. Rockstar looked down and at an angle to the man. He pulled a casual salute. "We already met. Corporal Jared Masters." He dropped the salute, returning his gaze to the Marine squad in front of him. He activated the VISR and ordered it to tap into the information network of the ship. [No Network] was the message that played on his screen.

"Admiral, do you know your Network is down?" Rockstar asked the aging man. Adama looked at him. had he really tried to hack their database? "We don't use a network, corporal. The Cylons can hack them and cripple us from the inside." Rockstar paused for effect. He looked at the marines. "Sounds like a good precaution." Adama motioned for the marines to file out of the hanger and the ODSTs to follow him. 'Already off to a bad start,' he thought.


	8. Chapter 8

**I own only OC characters. Halo property of Bungie, 343, Microsoft. BSG 2003 property of Sci-Fi **channel**.**

"So what kind of operation are you running here Admiral?" Rockstar asked as they were lead through the corridors of the Galactica. "We are trying to save what's left of our race," Adama said as they made their way to the lab. "But that seems irrelevant now doesn't it? If you really are human, that is." Continuing through the halls, Rockstar and Phantom chattered on their own radios, commenting on how advanced everything seemed. Everything besides weapons. It looked like they were stuck in the information age with their weapons.

"So tell me Admiral," Phantom said through his Mic. "How does you FTL system work?" Adama motioned to two marines that were guarding a door. At his command, they unbolted and swung the hexagonal door wide. "All that after this," he motioned the two ODST members inside. Upon entering the room, Rockstar's and Phantom's VISR flashed warning after warning, principal among them was a Radiation warning. Backing out they looked at the Admiral. "15 rads, what are you trying to pull?" Rockstar demanded.

"Nothing, really," came an English accent from the room. "There will be no ill side effects, I assure you." A man of middling height and shoulder length brown hair walked out of the room. "Admiral, you know that at the current rate of my device I have sixty years of work insuring the safety of this fleet." Jared looked at the man, he was smoking a short cigar and wore a lab coat and glasses. "Shut it Baltar," Adama growled. "If these to are human, then your work is nearly over." And with that, he left orders for the marines to bring the soldiers to his quarters afterwards, walking off.

"So," the man said, extending a hand. "I'm Gaius Baltar, and you two are?" Phantom and Rockstar looked at the man. "Hell." Was the reply as they walked into the room. The room was dominated by a cylindrical machine, the source of the Radiation alert. There was a table covered with labeled vials of blood, as were the walls. "Sit please, I need to take some blood before I can test." Baltar said as he walked over to a cabinet, yet again crowned with filled vials.

"How does this work doc?" Phantom asked as he took off his helmet. He had black hair and blue eyes. "you shoot it with radiation and if it boils it's human?" Baltar laughed slightly, readying two needles. "No, I send it through that machine. If the screen shows green, you're human, if red… well lets not think about that, shall we?" Phantom removed the clamps on his arm pads, sliding the single sleeve of armor plates off.

"Hold still then," Baltar said as he sunk the needle into Phantom's arm. "Gaius," a female voice called out. "You know these two aren't Cylons. Just look at them. They're Marines, not machines." He exhaled, shaking his head. "Not now six," he muttered under Phantom's prattle to Rockstar.

"So Jared," Phantom called across the room. "What kind of things do you think these Cylons are to scare an entire fleet of ships?" Rockstar looked back at Phantom. "Shut it, Daniels." He snapped as he continued to survey the vials of blood on the wall. "The quicker we can get this done, the quicker we can get back to the fight and finish off what the covenant started." He turned back to the corporal. "That means keeping you mouth shut so we don't get detained by at least half decent people." He raised the reflector on his helmet. Jared was surprised to see another person.

She was around six foot five, dwarfing even him. she wore a very small red dress and had platinum blond hair. And she was taking interest in his presence. "Protector, what are you doing here?" she asked as she walked up to him. Jared turned off the mic and radio, effectively silencing his helmet. "you are supposed to be at the Ark. Why are you here?" she asked again. "My name is Jared Masters, not Protector." He said into his helmet. "But you are him none the less Reclaimer." He stopped dead, turning his head to the woman. "What did you call me?"

Gaius had finished taking Phantom's blood, who was now replacing his removed armor. "Ok, you're next." He said turning to face Rockstar. "Sir…" he trailed off as he saw Caprica Six and him talking to each other. Baltar hurriedly walked over to him, pulling him to the side and out of view. "You can see her?" he asked, panicked. "Jared lifted off his helmet, "Yeah, I can doc. What is the big deal here?" Rockstar replied as he walked forward, forcing Baltar to move out of his way.

Rockstar sat down were Phantom was as Phantom observed the device that his blood was going through at the moment. Jared slid his arm out of the armor, letting it hang from the chest piece by a single latch. After rolling up his sleeve, Gaius placed the needle in his arm. "You can see her, right?" he whispered to Jared as the blood poured into the vial. "Yeah, what's the big deal? She had good looks besides being taller than most women." Rockstar whispered back. Gaius shook his head. "I used to e the only one who could. She isn't physical, understand?" Rockstar watched as Gaius broke the seal on another vial, taking a back up sample. "So she isn't into casual sex, many women aren't." Gaius shook his head again. "No, not that kind of physical."

Jared's eyes widened as Phantom walked back around to the monitors, passing straight through the woman. "Ok, I get it. Then why can I see her?" he asked the doctor. Gaius again shook his head, at a loss for explanation. He set the vials in a holder, looking at the screen ant typing in a command. The scree showed green all across. "You're human, congratulations Phantom." He shook the marines hand. "One of the soldiers outside will show you to the Admiral now."

"Why can he see you?" Gaius asked Caprica after the door closed. They had an hour alone as Jared's blood ran. "Caprica, why can he see you?" the woman looked at Gaius, diverting her thought process. "He… I know him from a long time ago." She said, looking back at Rockstar. "Except he had more scars on his arms and neck when I did." She knelt in front of Rockstar, getting to eye level. "Don't you remember anything from the war?" she asked.

"What war?" Jared asked. "how do you and Spark know me?" she seemed to recoil at the mention of Guilty Spark. She stood up, walking away to the opposite wall. "So you've met Monitor 343…" she crossed her arms, shaking her head. "This is…" she turned back and lifted Jared out of his chair by his chest piece. "You are Solitary Comet. A Forerunner Protector of Installation 13. What happened to you?" she was almost yelling at him now. "You left the galaxy to find a way to defeat the flood without killing everything. What did you find?" Jared shook her off or him, backing away and holding his head. "Arg! What did you do!" He fell to one knee, clutching at his head with both hands. "Agh!"

**What's this? Our hero seems to be more than a human at face value? Interesting.**

**Please review!**


	9. Chapter 9

**I own all OC's. All rights reserved Sci-fi channel, Bungie, 343 Industries, Microsoft.**

**Sorry for not updating recently, I started a new fic to try and get past the block on this one. I also have had a serious hang over the past few days. So here's a bone, I'm working on the other chapters as of now :) enjoy.**

It was dark. Great suns it was dark…

Once I entered the spiral, it lit up and revealed the destruction that the parasite had left behind as it moved from galaxy to galaxy. I found Graveminds, everywhere. I even encountered the galaxy where they originated, Lunaris. It was its own Gravemind at that point, infection spawning from the center of a dead disk. My dreadnought was damaged during the return between this galaxy and the next. I ended up drifting in empty space for thousands of years in stasis.

When I returned, I had found the earth humans reverted to their current state and my brothers dead from the array. The only way I could assure we might meet was to implant a clone of myself into a human womb, along with a nanite lacing to its central nervous system that would deliver this message to you. I am far dead now, my lost craft having drifted into Sol. Remember, I said I would find a way to defeat the flood finally. We must fire the thirteenth ring. The calculations do not lie. All sentient life will survive. And all traces of the parasite shall perish. Good bye my friend.

Jared woke to find himself lying on the floor, a sharp pain in his back and a dull throbbing in his head. He was on the Galactica, lying on the floor of Baltar's lab. The doctor and Caprica were hovering over him. Gaius was confused, obviously. But Caprica had ascertained a look of shock and horror. Jared looked at each of them, exaggerating the motion. Surging forward, he snatched a waste bin, which he proceeded to expel the meager contents of his stomach into.

After he recovered from the blackout, he set the waste bin down, staggering to his feet and wiping his mouth with the back of a glove. "What the hell just happened?" Rockstar growled through a sore throat. Gaius drew a blank as Caprica paced around the room. "Well?" Rockstar demanded. Caprica stopped pacing. "The parasite is… It's everywhere, it controls galaxies…" She shook her head. "We fought the single most powerful species in the universe and actually believed we won." She shook her head again. "The thirteenth installation is the true last resort…"

"Ok, I'm thoroughly confused now." Rockstar retrieved his helmet. Donning it, he located Phantom's position. "This is all above my pay grade. Am I clear to go doc?" he asked Baltar. The Scientist shook his head. "You aren't human, and you aren't Cylon either. This machine is giving several readings." He looked at Rockstar as he moved around the desk. "What are you?" Gaius asked as Jared watched the rectangle of color flash yellow. "A Helljumper. I kill split jaw mother fuckers to protect my home."

Rockstar was lead down the halls to the Admiral's quarters my two marines. Baltar had given them the go ahead on the basis he wasn't Cylon. "So, what is all that armor for anyway?" a Sargent asked. Rockstar glanced back at the rear marine. "The Covenant are fond of Plasma. The Titanium A plating allows me to take four shots of the green shit to the same spot and live." He returned his attention to the fore as a door came into view. 'Not smart,' he thought as they neared the bulkhead. 'It's a funnel for fire.' He made note of the dead end bulkhead labeled COMMANDER.

"Enter," Adama said as a knock came at the door. Rockstar was lead in my two marines, who took their leave at the Admiral's command. "So you aren't Cylon, huh?" Adama asked, motioning to the bottle of amber liquid on his desk. Rockstar shook his head. "No thank you, sir. I'm on duty. And no I'm not a Cylon." Phantom chuckled to him self, a glass in his hand. The clear liquid either moonshine or water. "Well you are human, right?" Jared turned a helmeted head towards the Corporal. Phantom stopped laughing immediately.

**I know it's short, but it's something I cleaned up from my old hard drive that crashed recently. Review please! :)**


	10. Chapter 10

**I own all Original Characters. _Battlestar Galactica_ is property of Sci-Fi channel. _Halo_ and the title_ ODST_ belong to Bungie, 343 Industries and Microsoft respectively.**

"So tell me," Adama said, pouring himself a glass of what looked like rum. "What is your objective as of now?" He observed the two soldiers. The black armor they wore was thick, yet light and maneuverable. It seemed to have a weight assistance system to aid in movement. They were obviously first rate soldiers, the elite of their military. 'Damn well have to be to drop into orbit in a tin can.' He thought to himself.

"We have to find a way back to the fleet," Rockstar spoke up, he had removed his helmet since entering the admiral's quarters. "But since we have no idea where we are, we must secure an evacuation pick up." he looked to his right. "Be good to get some frustration out on those split chins and grunts, eh Phantom?"

Phantom chuckled, downing the rest of his drink. "Damn right, nothing satisfies like a spray of blue and purple blood." He drew his knife and jammed it into the arm of the wooden chair. "And nothing compares to the feel of this sleek piece of metal splitting skulls and separating muscle." He pulled on the knife, nearly tipping the chair. "ah crap…" he muttered, trying to work three inches of blade out of seasoned hickory.

Adama took a sip of his drink, pouring a glass of water for Rockstar. "And how do you propose to secure an evac when your ship doesn't know where you are?" he asked, handing the glass to Jared. "It seems that your best option would be to stay with us and head toward a habitable, human controlled world, wouldn't it?"

Jared accepted the water, taking a sip as he leaned back further into his seat. For a group of humans that were unknown to exist, they were very trusting and cooperative. "It would," Rockstar conceded. "But our protocol dictates clearly, all UNSC Marines stranded in unmapped space must secure the area and await evac." He took another drink. The water was pure and tasteless, like it just appeared in the glass from midair. "And being the absolute best soldiers humanity has to offer, we might as well have a little fun and spread some pain."

Adama agreed with Rockstar. "So this, 'Covenant'. What are they exactly? Who makes them up? what are their armament range and basic tactics?" he finished his rum, pouring another. "The Cylons were formidable, but the worst arms they had were nukes, nothing we aren't familiar with." Jared nodded, this Adama was his kind of man. Precise, to the point and objective minded.

"Well, I can tell you they are a lot like humans in tactics. Elites and Brutes control squadrons of Jackals, Grunts and Buggers. You know what Elites are already I presume, so I'm going to explain their tactics. They use their superior agility and speed to great effect, dodging fire and grenades with ease. But their big fault is their pride. If you take out their back up, they feel wounded and will rush you for vengeance, that is when you have them." He punctuated the sentence with a mock firing movement with his fingers.

"Now Brutes are very dangerous. They are much like highly intelligent Gorillas. They will employ humans like tactics, but unlike most of the covenant, they prefer projectiles and explosives to plasma. Most, if not all, of their weapons have a type of blade attached. Their grenades employ Flechette technology, causing a napalm effect and casting spikes in all directions, blanketing an area." He adjusted his position, getting more comfortable. "The Brutes are, like the name suggests, brutish. They are quite capable of tearing armor from a tank and ripping a man in two.

"The Jackals are the scout type members. They are more agile and faster than Elites. They carry an energy based shield projector on their arm, blocking anything but a plasma or energy based weapon. But they are not nearly as intelligent or strong. They are adept snipers but not good at close range combat. They prefer to lob grenades and fire plasma around their shields and love the Phalanx formation, creating a line of fire with very small fracture points.

"The Grunts are nothing more than cannon fodder. Individually they are weak and cowardly, preferring to run and find assistance rather than attack you. In a group they are bold, taking on a heavy tank with grenades and pistols. They will perform a suicide charge by activating their grenades and running into groups of soldiers.

"Also, there are the Hunters. They are fully clad in armor from head to toe and only have one real weakness. Their back, it is exposed and vulnerable if they are facing away from you. But, they have three major assets. One is the impenetrable shield they wield. It is made of metal, but I've seen plasma bolts bounce off of it like rocks. Two, they always travel in pairs, so if you can get around one, the other has a clear line of sight on you. And three, they carry devastating fire power. I've seen one take out the heaviest UNSC tank with a single shot.

"Last there are Buggers. These little pests are insectoid, flying green aliens that always swarm on a position from above or behind. They can devastate an unsuspecting detachment in mere minutes and are usually proceeded by a full assault of the others, save the Hunters.

Now I've told you what you want to know about ground troops. Tactics, weapons, etceteras, correct?" Rockstar asked. Adama nodded, leaning back into his chair. "Alright. Not for the most devastating weapon they have id the orbital cannon. It fires a constant stream of plasma from a cruiser or capitol ship from orbit, to the surface, turning all it touches to a glowing crater of glass. They did this to Reach and Harvest, only their twisted religious devotion demanded that they place symbols into the ground before they left." He shook his head. "If they decide to use that on you, you are thoroughly…"

"Fracked, yeah," Adama finished. He took another drink, thinking. He had feared there would be other, more deadly enemies out there, but he never expected a down right religious devotion to eradicating them from existence. "If the Cylons and the Covenant met, would they combine their efforts to destroy us?" he asked. Rockstar shrugged.

"What are they? Are they like us or like what you have in your morgue?" Rockstar leaned back again, sipping the rest of his water. Adama made a so-so motion.

"Somewhat," he began. "The Cylons were originally made by the colonies. They were meant to work in environments too hazardous for humans to go into. But they acquired a sentience and waged a war on us, nearly eradicating us. This Battlestar fought their base stars and made it through. But now they have Cylons that look and seem human. They talk calmly and are adept in persuasion, along with combat. That is why we had to test your blood in Baltar's machine. It is the only way to detect them." Rockstar shook his head.

"No I doubt they would strike a pact with the covenant. Being man made and looking human disqualify them from ever being allies. Which means there is an advantage there. If we encountered both races at once, the Covenant would engage us both, allowing us to escape unscathed." As Adama poured yet another drink, Rockstar and Phantom's helmets chirped.

"**..Ocks…r….is skipp… get back…re…. Peat… back up… now corporal."** Rockstar placed his helmet on walking away from the admiral's desk.

"Come back on that Skipper. Repeat your last, sir." He called, amplifying his signal. The radio hissed static and then blared an explosion.

"**About damn time soldier!"** The captain called. **"If you two are done, we need you down here now!"** Another explosion that Rockstar recognized as the Grindel Non-Linear rifle firing its burst. **"I fucking repeat! Get! Your! Ass! Down Here!"**

Rockstar turned around, activating the VISR system on his helmet. "We need a lift, how fast can this bucket go?" The admiral got up from behind the desk and walked to the door. They ran through the corridors towards the CIC. Adama burst through the door, yelling commands.

"Mr. Gaeta," he began. "Calculate a jump directly into the center of that ring. Everyone, prepare for jump. Call action stations! Ready the Raptors for a bombing sortie and the Mark Sevens for a strike run on These coordinates. Red flares mark friendlies." As the room buzzed about, Adama walked back out, pointing down the hall. "The hangar is that way, I want you both to get in a Raptor and jump to your allies before we get there" The two ODSTs nodded and broke into a dead run.

"Make a hole!" they both screamed as they reached a group of people. They turned left, then right before coming out into the hangar deck. "We have orders for a raptor flight now!" Rockstar instructed.

"This one!" he heard a pilot call. It was Kat, waving them towards the raptor she was in. the two boarded the craft, strapping into the seats as the elevator lifted them into the docking pod. "Hold on!" she called back into the bay as she gunned the thrusters. The craft easily made Mach three within the minute as it left the pod. Another pilot was in the bay with Rockstar, typing on a computer before tapping them on the knees.

"I'm Helo," he introduced. "Hold on tight." He said as he pressed enter. A message blipped on Kat's Screen before she pressed a button on the controls. Rockstar felt like he was being shrunken and stretched at the same time. In an instant the darkness outside turned bright, followed by a loud crack and a violent shake. "That was a FTL jump, the nausea will pass soon."

The raptor slowed as it approached the last transmission point of Rockstar's Captain. "Holy shit! We have a hundred hostiles closing on the position!" she called out as a streak of red light barely missed the ship.

"Fire on the hostile forces with every thing you have, largest targets take priority!" he keyed his radio as he unbuckled. "Captain the aircraft is friendly light red flares to mark your position, there is a bomber run incoming for assistance. Get. Clear." He finished deliberately.

As the Skipper and Heavy lit the flares, four Vipers swooped down, pulling away rapidly as eight missiles impacted in the center of the encroaching horde. **"Solid rocks on target,"** Rockstar heard over the COM line. **"Falling back to secondary position."** Three more Raptors dropped thousand and two thousand pound dumb bombs on the remaining hostile forces. The field was decimated by the aerial assault. Kat began to make her decent. "We'll be on station if you guys need an evac." Helo reassured.

The Raptor touched down, letting the soldiers file out and take up position. "Phantom," Skipper called. "Set up your mines around the perimeter, there is a whole division headed our way up-spin." Phantom saluted, heading out to follow his orders. "Rockstar, over here." Jared ran up to his commander.

"Sir," he said as he approached Skipper. The Captain shoved a BR55 into Rockstar's hands. Jared nodded, taking up second line position behind heavy. "I'm on the tower now, awaiting further instruction." He spoke into the radio mic." He changed channels, hailing the Galactica. "Admiral Adama, Inform the flight teams that friendlies are within the black smoke." He keyed off the radio, loading a smoke canister mag into the under barrel launcher.

Rockstar stood up on the spire, launching 60mm smoke rounds around the compound they occupied. "Captain, have a black canister ready at the first sound of air cover." He called out on the radio, reloading the 60mm launcher with high explosive incendiary grenades.

"Rockstar, I am giving sniper support," he explained plainly. "A smoke grenade will give away my position." Rockstar could hear him setting up the rifle to take out targets before they arrived. "I'll take my chances from here." The captain finished.

As the smoke began to spread, a loud pop was heard above them. Rockstar looked up, viewing the distant Galactica following their position. **"Soldiers, this Galactica Actual,"** it was Adama. **"We are following your position with heavy artillery, request fire when ready."** Rockstar nodded to himself, it was always good to have an over-watch. Returning his vision to the fore, his VISR lit up with a field of red. The covenant had them out matched, out gunned, and definitely out numbered.

"Um.. Guys…" Rockstar called over his radio, panning his view around. His VISR continued to mark up the number of enemy soldiers. Five hundred, six hundred, one thousand. A whole thousand Covenant soldiers, and it continued to climb steadily. "How much ammo do we have?"

**_CLIFFHANGER! (Key Dramatic Music)_ **

**How ever will the troops survive? How much ammo do they really have? How long will my writers block stay away?**

**Why am I asking you? I already know this shit! XD **

**Until next time. **


	11. Chapter 11

**I own all Original Characters. Battlestar Galactica and the HALO name are the personal whipping boys of their owners.**

The monitor floated across the ring, cutting through the honeycomb structure. He had been here on the installation for a total of seven solar and lunar motions, checking that everything was in order and operational. Upon discovering that this installation was built to study the effects of the firing sequence on sentient life along with Parasite samples, he had begun downloading and organizing all of the information regarding the operations. It seemed to the AI that even though it was an Array Installation, the construction had been kept under the sole watch of Solitary Comet, the protector. Only Comet's DNA structure could activate the subroutines and charge the amplifiers.

The ring seemed to be named The Plains. This caused Guilty Spark to chuckle to himself. The last bastion against the flood was named after a utopian ideal. Information pointed to the installation being able to spare the intelligent species of this galaxy while eradicating all necrotic life forms. 'What a peculiar device this is,' he thought to himself.

Spark entered one of the labs. He had charged the Sentinels with filling the room with infection forms, keeping four captured Sangheilli quarantined off in an adjacent cubicle. The task had been completed, the room containing one thousand infection forms and the quartered off area holding four dazed sentient entities. "No reason to get excited," Spark said as he began the process of adding an entity to the fray of Flood. "Some among us only see life as but a joke." The parasite overwhelmed the unarmed being, quickly converting the Sangheilli soldier into a combat form.

"And now for the test." He said, activating the pulse generator he had control over. The Elites watched in horror as their comrade was assimilated. The infected friend now attempting to break the glass that separated them. One pointed to the ceiling of the laboratory, bringing the group of three's attention to an object that was glowing with increasing intensity.

As the generator built up the necessary energy, Spark moved into the observation landing. "This shall prove enlightening at the minimum." He said to a sentinel bot stationed next to him. The generator was now glowing white as it reached the peak of its charge. The Elites were cowering away from the device, not nearly as bold unarmed against the Flood.

The generator fired, sending a wave of visible energy in all directions. The walls of the room caused the waves to rebound through the room again, making a second surge. The infection forms burst upon the initial blast, sending putrid and fetid fluids in all direction. The first blast forced the combat form to glass, causing it to bounce off and land on the floor. Just as the converted Sangheilli regained its stance, the second wave struck it. The combat form disintegrated, as did the remaining flesh of the infection forms.

The remaining Elites regained their composure as Sentinels filled the lab, maintaining the generator in the room. The glass walls of the containment cell lowered into the floor, allowing the captives to roam free in the room. Guilty spark drifted into the area from a concealed door, humming the same tune he had arrived with. "Good day," he said cheerily to the captives before approaching the generator. "Hmmm, only one test every seventy two hours."

"Explain this heresy, Monitor." A major demanded of Spark. "You capture us, disarm us, an then quarter us away so you can observe us. And after you fill this area with the parasite, you take our leader. You feed him to the Flood, defenseless and without honor." The Major motioned to the golden armor laying spread around the room. "What purpose does this wanton death and meaningless sacrifice serve the holy covenant?" The major stomped his cleft hoof on the floor to emphasize his anger.

The monitor turned his eye towards the agitated Elite. "This has nothing to do with your covenant, Sangheillian," he stated flatly. "It is because of your covenant that Installation 0-4 was destroyed. Your soldiers released the flood kept quarantined there, causing the infection to run rampant on its surface." He floated until he was a foot away. "The Reclaimer was forced to destroy my installation to keep the infection from spreading further. Thus terminating my former studies." The Elite snarled at Spark, not daring touch him out of religious observance.

"And why did you kill my commander, monitor?" the Elite continued questioning. "What purpose did his life serve?" spark turned away and went back to overseeing the maintenance drones fix the generator.

"Your commander died for a greater purpose, and I am truly sorry Major. But this installation is not the same as the others." Spark turned around and floated towards the doors set into the walls. "This laboratory is designed to test the third version of the phase pulse generator. Previous models were only designed to eradicate sentient life, but this version is different. This version only seems to kill the flood. Now that I have successfully attempted a pulse on a combat form, I require different species to test immunity on." He floated away to a screen with scrolling letters on it. "I require a single subject of the Jiralhanae, Huragok, all forms of Lekgolo structure, Yanme'e, Kig-Yar, and Unggoy." He turned his attention back to the major. "Can you do this for me, Sangheilli?"

The Elites were lead out of the structure by the Sentinel bots, charged with bringing to the monitor one of each covenant race present on the ring. "Major, you don't truly intend to bring our brothers to the monitor, do you?" a minor asked. The major gazed upon the field they now stood in, making a mental note of the Forerunner Dreadnought beyond the structure walls.

"I have not a choice in the matter," he sighed. "The Articles dictate that any order given by a Forerunner AI is to be followed fully if rampancy is not suspect." He waved the other two Sangheilli forward, returning to where they had landed their drop ship during evacuation.

"But sir, the Prophets are not present. We are but survivors of the battle." Another minor pointed out. "Do you not agree that Truth and Regret will pardon us for trying to save our brethren?" the Major pondered the question as they approached the violet ship. Would the prophets be any wiser to their plight?

"No, they would not. You know as well as I that Truth is ruthless and narrow minded. He sees not beyond his own goals of ascension. If we were to perish on the holy relic, he would never know." The major opened the personnel bays, climbing in and working his way into the pilots seat. He settled into the seat as his underlings boarded and secured their weapons. "We must do as the monitor has requested."

The display in the cockpit flashed into view, the hologram projected showing the health of his remaining strike force. As the diagnostics ran on the turret, one of the health monitors flashed a warning. **"Major! I'm under fi…"** The display removed the minor's vitals in the port bay. The major growled, closing the bay doors. He started the flight sequence, checking for damage to repulsion drives.

The major quickly gained altitude, reaching five hundred meters. There was a clamor in the starboard personnel bay, the major recognized it as human fire. The gunfire ceased, followed by crashing and the clang of metal striking metal. A barrel was pressed into the majors face. "Change course," the human said. The major continued on his heading , lowering his altitude. "I fucking know you speak my language Major, pull starboard thirty degrees and lower altitude four hundred feet." The human punctuated the sentence by pressing the barrel of the MA5B into his helmets eye port.

He followed the enemies orders, self preservation overriding his sense of loyalty to the prophets. "What do you want, heretic?" he asked, his voice seething anger. "I have been charged with the responsibility of gathering one of each Covenant member by the monitor. Why do you hinder my peaceful objective?"

The human scoffed, removing its helmet. Long red hair flowed down the back of the soldiers armor. Tossing the copper strands out of her face, she smiled calmly. "Peaceful my ass." She sniped. "How about I strike a deal with you, eh?" she offered. "You get me to my battle buddies, and I'll let you live." She moved the gun away slightly, giving the Major back his full vision. "Can't argue with that, can you?"

The Elite grunted, then laughed loudly. "You expect me to believe your blasphemous lies, human?" he asked. "I know of the devilry your race is capable of, and you fool me not." He returned his vision to the screen, finding the ground below covered in red tick marks. "How many of you are here?" he asked again, pointing to the screen with his hand. His captor glanced at the screen, failing to hide a surprised expression.

"If those aren't Covenant," she began, lowering her rifle and facing the screen fully. "Then what the fuck _are_ they?"

**_I KNOW!_ I'm fracking evil with all these cliffhangers, huh? Oh well.**

**What are the enemies? Where did they come from? What am I eating for dinner tonight?**

**I'll never tell! Until next chapter. :) Please review!**


	12. Chapter 12

**I do not own these subject matters. I own all the Original Characters blah blah blah blah…**

"Alert! Cylon Basestar detected entering the system at 48 by 76 azimuth 4." Dualla called out into the CIC. Adama and Tigh looked up from the map table towards their Dradis display. "They are launching Raiders, forty count and rising." Another crew member called. Adama watched as the Raiders ignored the Galactica, heading straight for the ring around them. "We have incoming! Advise launching the CAG and all available viper pilots." Another crew member said.

Adama looked across the table at Tigh, his expression grim. "They went for the ring first," he stated. Adama looked up at the displays again, watching the Dradis count up the inbound fighters. "Why?" Adama turned around. "Launch the CAG." He ordered. "Call back all Vipers providing air cover for the ground troops, order them to shoot down all enemy craft incoming on the ring. Do not let them land on it." He returned his attention to the displays.

"What the hell is on that ring that they want so much?" Tigh asked, walking back into the crew stations. "Get some scans on those Raiders heading towards the ring Gods dammit! I want to know what the hell they think is so important." He walked up behind a corporal manning the long range observation post. "What are they carrying?" he asked the kid.

"Not sure sir," the kid replied. He entered a few commands and activated several subroutines. "I'm getting an analysis now." He singled out the lead Raider, forcing the machine to read that one first. "It's a Heavy Raider sir. The analysis says it's carrying mining equipment." He switched to another contact. "This one is carrying Cylons. Two skin-jobs and four bullet heads along with mining equipment from the temperature scans." The results were the same for the remaining five.

"Sir! We have another contact coming into range." Dualla called out. "A Basestar just came out of FTL in the atmosphere." Tigh worked his way towards her station. Dualla had advanced alert Dradis displays and radiation observation equipment. "They're launching Heavy Raiders into the at…" She stopped and refreshed the displays. Nothing but Raiders. "They're gone sir." She upped the range on her equipment. "All launched Raiders are moving to the surface."

Tigh looked back at Adama. The admiral lowered his gaze to the table. 'We have to run,' he thought. He didn't like it but it was the only option. Dradis now had four Basestars moving to surround them. "Spool up the FTL drive, call back the CAG" he ordered. "Call Kat, tell her to pick up the soldiers on the ground and jump to the rendezvous point. We're bugging out."

"Kat, we got orders." Helo alerted from the EOM station in the bay. "Galactica has sent coordinates, we have to pick up the soldiers and get them back to Galactica." He began to input the coordinates, readying the jump.

"Alright, I'm on it." She said as she began to drop altitude. She headed towards the location of the ODSTs, hugging the mountainsides close to avoid radar detection. "ETA is thirty seconds, be ready on that door Helo!" she called back, approaching the rear walls of the complex. "Oh my gods," before her was a massive ring of Centurions, they were approaching the complex on all sides, save for the cliff face to the west.

A rocket streaked across the sky, impacting the port side of the Covenant drop-ship. "Shit," Rockstar said as the vessel began to fall in a spiral. "Skipper, Heavy, This is Rockstar." He called over the radio. "We have to get Challenger. The captured vessel took a direct hit." He jumped down from his perch, sliding down the slanted face of the spire. "The surrounding forces are not covenant, I repeat," he landed on the landing with a grunt, quickly recovering and sprinting to the downed ship's position. "The enemies are not covenant."

Heavy joined him in the mad dash to the Challenger's position. "What the hell are they if they aren't covenant?" he asked Rockstar as Phantom showed up out of nowhere. Phantom reiterated the question, running hard to keep up with the other two's longer strides.

"**If they aren't Covenant, then what the hell are they?"** skipper called over the radio, followed with the muffled thump of his rifle firing.** "They don't seem to be anything like what that damn light bulb sends out."** Another thump, followed by a muttered curse. **"Dammit I'm made, I'll meet you all at the crash site."**

"**Rockstar, this is Kat. We have orders to pick you all up and bug out. Nonnegotiable."** Her radio cut out as she streaked over head. The Raptor was taking small arms fire as it ducked down below the cliff to their right. The ODSTs slowed down as they reached the downed ship. Phantom scrambled into the Starboard personnel bay, working his way back into the cockpit. Rockstar heard a mechanical whirring sound just before five of the unknown enemies came into view. "Heavy! Give me the Grindel!" he yelled out.

The Large soldier tossed him the massive weapon, knocking Rockstar back. He got up on one knee, readying the particle launcher to fire. He ducked out of cover, around the bay and aimed at the group of robots. Three seconds later a loud blast emitted, casting supercharged atoms towards the silver bipeds. The beam struck them solid, causing three to explode and two others to be left in shambles. "Phantom, hurry up!" Rockstar heard skipper yell.

"Good of you to join us Cap," Rockstar said as he trained the sights on another charging group. "What kept you so long?" he fired, demolishing the enemies. Skipper reached into the holding bay, helping Challenger out of the ship. "Nice of you to join us, Diana!" Rockstar yelled over the blast of yet another beam. This time one was left standing and it fired on Rockstar, scoring a direct hit to the shoulder between the plates.

"Rockstar is hit!" Heavy called out, running over to the fallen soldiers position. He picked up the non linear rifle and slung Rockstar over his shoulders. "We need an evac, now!" Heavy called on the radio. Just as he issued the request, seven explosions reverberated throughout the area. Pillars of flame and debris climbed into the sky as four more explosions sounded. Looking up, he could see flashes emanating from the distant Battlestar above.

Kat reigned in the Raptor as close to the crash site as she could. "Open the door Helo," she ordered from the cockpit. As the Raptor touched down, Helo activated the hydraulic override, pushing the door open as fast as possible. "Get in! Come on!" he screamed over the rapid fire of Challenger's MA5B.

Heavy climbed into the Bay, setting Rockstar down on the floor and leaning the Grindel against a wall. Challenger got in, reloading her rifle and following up with another volley of suppressing fire. Skipper followed her in, taking the BR55 from Rockstar's fist and returning fire on the Cylons as several shots bounced off the hull. "Come on Phantom!" he yelled over the radio. "What the hell is so god damn important?"

"**You will thank me later, Captain."** He replied as he climbed out of the crashed ship, an Elite trailing him with his head down**. "I got me a prize!"** Phantom dove into the personnel bay as Kat activated the engines, beginning to take off. The Elite clamored up the side of the Raptors wing, helping Helo close the bay door and secure it.

"God dammit!" a blond woman with blue eyes screamed as the Raptor disappeared with a loud boom. "They got away!" she lifted the pistol in her hand at the Centurion next to her, firing four rounds into its headpiece. She stormed off into the crowd of steel, searching for an eight or a six to blame. She found them walking her way. "What the hell, Eight?" she demanded upon seeing them. "Why didn't you take out that Raptor?"

The tan woman let her rocket tube fall to her side, raising her free hand in defense. "I couldn't get a bead on them until they already had the humans onboard," she explained. "You know Cavil wanted them alive, Diana." She handed the tube to a Centurion near her.

Diana Biers pinched the bridge of her nose, fuming over the fact that they got away still. "I expect you will be the one to report this failure to the ones, Sharon." She stated, daring her to argue. "I am not about to take a bullet because you fracked up." she walked off towards the Raider they arrived in. A tall woman with blond hair approached Sharon next.

"Don't worry about Cavil," she said, placing a hand on Sharon's shoulder. "We still have to mine the Tylium off of this ring. If we can do that without too much trouble, then…" she was cut off by a scream, followed by a roar and gunfire. "Diana," she said, running off towards the noise.

"Caprica, wait!" Sharon called out, running after her. The Centurions parted, clearing the way for the Eight to approach. She gasped at the sight. Diana was lying on the ground, being comforted by Caprica as she died. Two metal spikes protruded from her chest, blood seething from the wounds. "What happened?" she demanded from a Centurion. The eight foot tall machine raised its arm, pointing to a dead alien surrounded by more of its comrades. Sharon approached the monstrosity, prizing the weapon it wielded from its hand.

"It fired the spikes from that," Caprica said as Sharon hefted the device. It weighed a surprising amount for it to be a single handed weapon. She held it with both hands, facing away from the gathered Cylons and fired it towards a wall. Four glowing spikes flew from the barrel, embedding in the wall with a slight thudding sound. Caprica looked up at Sharon, watching the eight think. "What are you putting together, Sharon?"

She turned around, handing the weapon to a Centurion. "I think we just got a new form of firepower," she said. She turned back to the Centurion. "Take this to Leone, He should know what to do from there." She walked over to Caprica and Diana. Kneeling, she asked, "How much longer until the Resurrection ship is within range?"

Diana coughed, blood flying from her mouth. "N-not… lo-ong now…" she stammered, pulling the gun at her waist out of it's holster. She held it out as far as she could. "D-do.. it-t. I'm… I'm r-read-dy…" Sharon took the gun and nodded, standing up as Caprica laid her on the grass. Diana gasped and sputtered blood, letting her head drift to the sides. "S-such a b-beau-ut-iful p-plac-ce t-to d-d-die…" she said, watching some form of bird fly over head. She looked at Sharon as the bird flew over her. "I'll s-see you s-soon." She said. Sharon nodded, taking aim. Diana looked up at the sun, letting her mind wander. Sharon pulled the trigger, and she was gone.

… **wow…**

**Anyway, I need to hear your reviews. I'm having a hard time writing and I had to push to finish this chapter. What do you think I should change and what am I already doing a good job on?**

**Review, review, review.**


	13. Chapter 13

**DISCLAIMER! You know the drill by now.**

"We have to staunch the bleeding," A female voice spoke.

"Shit, damn bulletheads hit an artery. I need forceps over here." A smooth male voice this time.

"What the hell were those things!" It was Heavy.

"Shut up!" a gravely voice yelled over the cacophony of voices. All the arguments ceased. "Yelling about it isn't going to save him, now all of you that aren't medically trained, get the hell out of my O.R." The sound of boots and receding conversations followed the demand, leaving the beeping and whir of equipment. "Soldier, can you hear me?" The gravelly voice asked. A light filled Rockstar's vision, disappearing and reappearing twice.

Jared tried to swat the light away, only to end up clenching in pain and uttering a growl. "Good your awake," the voice said again. "I'm Doctor Cottle, I have to put you under anesthesia to fix your arm." Jared felt something being placed over his face, and with that he was out.

"Ow…" Jared growled as he woke up. He opened his eyes, only to close them from the assault of light and splitting headache. He rolled over onto his right side, using his elbow to prop himself up. he squinted, trying to keep the light out of his eyes as he looked around the room. He was in a waist high cot with white linen sheets. His armor was gone and he now wore a green hospital robe. Surrounding him were monitors and stands, along with a wireless radio set. He was sectioned off from the rest of the room by a green pull curtain.

To his right was a bottle marked in large black letters, 'Acetaminophen', and a glass of water. He tried to reach out for the glass with his left hand, but felt a solid object stopping him. Looking over, he saw his chest and arm were locked still in a cast. Jared lifted himself up into a sitting position with his right hand, snatching the bottle of pills first. He shook three out onto the tray, setting the cap back on the bottle and picking up the pills. He placed them on his tongue, reaching for the glass. Drinking the water, he looked around his area. There were more monitors and wires than the inner workings of an ONI corvette.

He set the glass down, pulling an IV drip needle out of his left hand. Jared stood up, grabbing the bag rack for support. He took a few tentative steps forward, glad that the rack had wheels. He was surprised at how week he felt, considering he had no recollection of anything that happened after getting shot. He suspected he had been out for about twenty hours.

Jared pulled back the curtain, revealing a large room filled with similar cots and curtained off areas. He staggered out of his area, relying on the rack to hold him up. "Jared," he heard someone call to his left. Turning his head, he saw Diana Haverson, AKA Challenger, wearing her reactive cloth undersuit. "come on Rockstar, you need to be in bed." she said as she approached. She placed a hand on his uninjured shoulder, trying to guide the wounded soldier back to his cot.

"No," he said, surprised at how weak he sounded. His voice was raspy and low, wheezing even. "No, I don't want to rest anymore." He looked around the room, noticing the rest of his squad asleep in some chairs. "Where the hell, is my armor?" he asked, wanting the assisted motion systems more than ever. Diana motioned to the wall to their left with her head.

"Over there," she said. "You are not putting that back on yet." She said deliberately, making her insistence heard again. "As your superior, I can either lead you back to your cot, or I can order you back there." she pushed lightly again on his shoulder, urging him back towards the bed. "When you can walk without that drip rack, you can have your toys back." She said. Jared huffed in frustration, drawing himself up to his full height and pushing the rack away.

"Fine, sergeant," he growled, taking a wobbling, painful step towards his gear. "See, I'm good for duty, sir." He continued to stagger toward the armor, his legs wobbling and threatening to fall out from under him with each step. "Just get me into the legs, the pneumatics will help me walk." He leaned against the wall, coughing from the exertion his wounded state pushed on him.

"Are you sure?" Diana asked, now sounding more like a concerned girlfriend than a hardened marine. Jared nodded, turning around and sliding down the wall to sit on the floor. She resigned, knowing how pigheaded the corporal was. She stood there watching him struggle with the legs of his Reactive cloth undersuit. He sighed, looking up at her.

"You said walk, not dress." He said, coughing afterward. "Care to give a cripple a leg to stand on?" he joked, grinning and laughing weakly. She giggled, kneeling over so he could wrap an arm around her. Once he was upright, the suit went on easily. When it came time for the cast, Rockstar sighed. "Cut this shit off of me," he demanded.

"No," the gravelly voice identified as Doctor Cottle barked behind him. "And I am seriously opposed to you walking around the Galactica in added weight." He walked around the two, stopping in front of Jared. He was smoking a short cigarette, looking him up and down. "You got guts, kid. I'll give you that." He said, offering Jared a smoke from his pack. Jared obliged the old doc, letting him light the tube. It wasn't tobacco, that Jared was sure.

"What is this?" he asked, taking another drag off of the dried, smoldering plant. Cottle lifted Jared's arm slightly, watching the soldiers reaction. Jared betrayed no pain when Cottle released him, his arm falling ninety degrees to his side.

"Fumagras," he said. "Doesn't do nearly as much damage to your lungs as tobacco, but it's twice as addictive. You've been unconscious for thirty six hours, son. I could take the immobilizing cast off, but I still want you to do as little physical activity as possible." Jared nodded. "And that means having as little of your armor on as possible."

"It doesn't just sit on us, doc." Jared said, his voice gaining strength by the minute. "It has weight assistance systems to help us carry more and run farther. It also slims down the suit's weight on the soldier by half." Cottle motioned to a nurse, calling her over.

"Bring me a motorized saw for his cast." The nurse nodded and hurried off. "Half huh?" he put out his cigarette, lighting another. "I don't like it, but considering I'd only put the whole suit at a hundred ten pounds, I'll allow it." The nurse returned, handing Cottle the saw. "Hold still."

Jared slipped the chest piece on over his head, securing the clasps with practiced ease and uncanny speed. He slid his arms through the sleeves of his arm plates, already having connected them. He secured the tension clamps, making sure they sleeves wouldn't fall off. He stacked the right shoulder pad on, closing the clasps to the chest plate and upper arm guard. He followed it up with the left, lingering on the hidden scar and patched hole in his suit. 'I'll have to inform ONI about these suits next we meet,' he thought.

Bending at the waist he retrieved his M6/SOCOM, slamming a magazine of 12.7mm, Armor Piercing, High Explosive rounds into the grip. He cycled the receiver, pulling a bullet into the breach. He slapped the weapon against his right thigh plate, letting the clamps do their work. He lifted the M7 Submachine gun off the bench along with the Silencer. He screwed the suppressor into the barrel, retrieving a clip from his ammo belt. He connected the hinges, slapping the magazine into its fittings and pressing the breach release button. He slipped the weapon around his right side, the clamps on the back of his chest piece again taking the weapon without complaint.

He retrieved his helmet from the hook on the wall, slipping the piece over his head. "Honey, I'm home," he said to himself as the neural lace in his central nervous system activated the VISR. "And oh look, you even cleaned up the place," he joked as a map display opened up. Apparently the Galactica crew took his advice and had Phantom upload a set of detailed schematics on the ship to a backup drive in the helmet. They were quickly downloaded into Jared's lace, ready to be pulled up at the speed of thought. **VISR HUD SYNCED,** was the message a moment later. He did a visual check, ensuring his ammo readout, health monitors, mini-map and video interface was functional. "Let's go see some people," he said, deactivating the VISR. His faceplate became clear as the bluish silver retreated up the glass.

Jared began walking out of the room, quickly halting in his tracks. "Knife…" he muttered. It wasn't on his chest plate where he kept it. So where was it. He looked around, seeing scratching on the wall to his right. Approaching it, he activated the flashlight in his helmet, illuminating the dark corner of the room. _Meet me in the brig,_ was the message scarred into the wall above the blade. The knife was dug into the wall, the serrated back barely free. Jared freed the blade from the wall, slipping it into the upside down scabbard on his chest. He brought up the VISR again, the silver blue cascading down the glass like rain. "Brig," he said.

Ten minutes of walking had earned him several hellos, a few wary glances, and a feeling of exhaustion. "What I would give for a tram system." He said into his muted helmet. The VISR pulled up secondary directions. There was a tram that ran through the belly of the ship, along with elevators to raise personnel and equipment. 'Now you tell me.' He thought, pushing the new map away from his current one.

He arrived at the brig two minutes later, letting the guard know he wanted in. The marines looked at each other, seemingly afraid of what they held prisoner. "What's the damn problem, let me in. I can hold my own." The right guard shrugged and unlatched the bulkhead, swinging it wide.

"Knock when your ready to come out," the guard on the left said as Jared walked past. As the door closed behind him Jared activated his VISR, lighting up the room as the assisted vision systems outlined everything in yellow. There was a desk and chair directly to his right, a set of beads lying on top of the table. He picked them up, observing the medallion. "Geminon," he read out loud, setting the beads back down. On the opposite wall were two cells, one empty and open. The other was closed and locked, a red outline against the opposite wall.

"Welcome, human." The huddled mass said, rising from its position. The Elite stood eight feet tall, maybe a little more and was broader than Jared. "I see your ally delivered my message as I requested." The major walked to the bars, resting his wrists on the crossbar. Jared turned off his VISR, lifting the helmet from its resting place on his shoulders.

"Yeah, did you ask them to carve it into a wall and dig my knife in under it?" he asked, seating the helmet in the crook of his let elbow. He hung his right had next to the M6SOCOM, ready for any tricks that the Elite might pull.

The Major shook his head. "That was their own doing," he clacked his lower mandibles together, annoyed that the human had made the peaceful request seem hostile. "I have asked you here to ask you if you know what the ring is for." He explained. "I have been told things that contradict my faith, and it troubles me."

Jared didn't care if the alien's faith required him to kill himself, it would only make his job easier, "No, I have no clue what it is for." He pulled the chair around the desk, sitting down and leaning back against the desk. "What did you find out?" even if he didn't care, Intel was Intel.

"The monitor told me that my brothers and sisters caused the destruction of a holy relic. Another of the ring worlds." He shook his head. "The AI also told me that the rings were designed not to send the Forerunners into god hood, but to destroy all sentient life so that the dread parasite would starve." The domo squatted down, coming to eye level with the seated ODST. "He told me that my faith is a lie, and I have asked you here to truce for my race."

Jared stopped rocking the chair, shocked that he had been offered a truce so far into the war. "What makes you think that I would agree to a truce after your covenant destroyed my home?" he asked, letting as much anger as possible fill his words. "After you decimated our colonies and killed so many humans, do you honestly think I could convince my people to let you roam free beside us on the warfront?" the elite shrugged, gripping his helmet and lifting it off.

"Nothing leads me to think that you would believe me, but once my fellow Sangheilli hear of the prophet's trickery they will rise up and cast them out." He slapped the bars with an open hand. "Their race is dying, human. No more than a thousand of them are still live, and all of them males." He walked back to the wall, returning to his seat. "The choice is yours, of course. But I would rather have a restricted freedom than rot in this cell."

Jared heard a chirp from his helmet. He put the piece on, activating the VISR. **NEW INFORMATION AQUIRED. MARK TARGET AS FRIENDLY? **he thought about it for a moment, considering to blow off his offer as bogus bravado. But he decided against it, changing the red outline to gray. 'neutral it stays, until I can talk with Skipper and the Admiral. He stood up, returning the chair to its former position. He knocked on the door, exiting as it opened.

**Yeah I know, I just about stole that sequence from Halo 2. But it makes sense that not just the Arbiter had knowledge of the Array's true purpose.**

**Anyway, please review! :)**


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